Sharbaraz
|nationality = Makuran |religion = Makuraner Religion |parents = Peroz |family= Valash (grandfather), Smerdis (cousin), Abivard (brother-in-law) |cause of death = |political office = King of Kings of Makuran |spouse = Denak, others |children = Jarireh, Peroz, others}}Sharbaraz King of Kings was a ruler of Makuran and the eldest son of Peroz King of Kings. His marshal and most trusted captain was Abivard who's sister, Denak, was his wife. After Peroz' death in the Pardrayan steppe at the hands of the Khamorth,The Stolen Throne, pg. 41. who were paid by the Videssian Avtokrator Likinios, Sharbaraz was forced to renounce his throne by a power-hungry bureaucrat, Smerdis, and imprisoned at the stronghold of Pradtik called Nalgis Crag.Ibid., pg. 118. He was freed by his future wife, Denak and her brother Abivard and smuggled to the latter's domain.Ibid., pg. 136. Along the way, it was revealed that Denak let herself be raped in order to free him. In order to regain her honor, he agreed to marry her.Ibid., pg. 146. Once in Abivard's domain, he built a sizable force and led it ably on the road to Mashiz, winning victory after victory though with the cost of heavy casualties. He also had his life saved by Abivard when he was attacked a sorcerer who followed Smerdis.Ibid., pg. 210. This led him to be overconfident and almost led to his army being destroyed. At the end of the battle, only two-thirds remained and everyday that decreased due to desertion. In order to defeat Smerdis, he decided to take his force to Videssos and get its Avtokrator Likinios' aid. He got the latter's aid after agreeing to hand over Vaspurakaner mines,Ibid., pg. 257. though he vowed to get them back one day. With the help of Videssian soldiers and engineers, he was able to recoquer Mashiz and defeat Smerdis, who he had executed in front of Nalgis Crag, where the latter had fled. At the end of the civil war, he made Abivard his most trusted military commander. Whether he was an effective military commander is a matter of opinion as in later years he was prone to believe in his own infallibility and wisdom. He was told this by his sweet-talking courtiers. This led him to joggle his commander's elbow and, in Abivard's case, suspect them of treason. When Genesios usurped the throne from Likinios and murdered the rightful Avtokrator and his entire family, Sharbaraz sent Abivard with a large force into Videssos along with a Videssian pretending to be Hosios, Likinios' eldest son. Sharbaraz became wary of Abivard as Abivard's troops won victory after victory against the Videssian troops. He recalled Abivard to Mashiz after the latter disobeyed Sharbaraz's order to force the Vaspurakaners to worship the God during their revolt, but was forced to send Abivard to command garrison troops of the Land of the Thousand Cities against Maniakes' invasion of the region. Sharbaraz conceived of a plan to send an embassy to Kubrat to jointly besiege Videssos the city. The plan at first looked as though it would succeed, particularly with the help of the traitor Tzikas, but Maniakes' troops quickly returned to the city from the Land of the Thousand Cities and the Videssian fleet intercepted the Kubrati attempt to link up with the Makuraners on the other side of the Cattle-Crossing, sinking most of the ships and prompting the Kubratoi to abandon the siege. After this failure Sharbaraz sent an order to the Makuraner field force for its second-in-command, Romezan, to deliver Abivard's head to Mashiz. This order was intercepted by Maniakes' troops in the Westlands and shown to Abivard. After some sorcerous trickery changed the message to kill 300 of the army's officers it was shown to Romezan and the others, and the Makuraner field force revolted under Abivard. Abivard negotiated a peace with Maniakes and withdrew from the Videssian Westlands, and Sharbaraz's troops largely abandoned his allegiance as Abivard marched west. Eventually Sharbaraz took the field against Abivard but much of his force changed sides and Abivard swiftly pursued him to Mashiz, where he put had Sharbaraz put to death for the construction of shrines showing the God with his own features. Sharbaraz had become arrogant and paranoid as he aged and was a much less competent man after years of court life. See Also *OTL Analogy in the Videssos Series#Sharbaraz References Category:Makuraners Category:Abivard's Family Category:Killed During the Time of Troubles Category:Kings of Kings of Makuran Category:Leaders Ousted by a Coup (Fictional Work) Category:Leaders Who Took Power by Coup (Fictional Work) Category:Makuraner Religionists Category:Soldiers of the Time of Troubles